Marijuana Seeds vs Clones

If you asked a grower if they preferred marijuana seeds or clones, you probably wouldn’t get a straight answer. That’s because there is a divide between the community on which may be better.

Cultivation methods are changing all the time. Both marijuana seeds and clones have the potential to grow into a beautiful and healthy cannabis plant. While each has its benefits compared to the other, both also have downsides that should make you question which option is best for you.

Clones

To start with the end, if you are a new grower, clones are the way to go. Unlike marijuana seeds, clones are pieces of the cannabis plant, usually a lateral branch, that is cut off of the mother plant.Taking a clone from one mother strain will result in a plant identical to the one you took from. However, this does not come without any risks.

If the mother plant has a disease that wasn’t caught before clones were cut, those clones will carry that disease. Clones will also be much more sensitive upon replanting, and have an increased chance of transplant shock.

Transplanting alone can cause its own issues for an experienced grower. Newer growers should be wary of the attention a clone may need before sticking it in some soil and assuming it will grow with some water and light. It wouldn’t hurt to get advice from a master grower, which The Real Dirt has already done for you.

Cheap but risky

Clones overall are a cheap option, and sell for anywhere between $2 and $15 with the exception of the higher priced ones. The wide availability of clones has led to plenty of guides and information about growing individual strains. This means you can know what to expect of certain strains before you plant them.

An unfortunate downside to the wide availability of clones however, is just that; there are so many clones being sold and produced that mix-ups can happen, where a strain labeled one name is actually another. Even worse is shoddy clones suppliers that lie about their product in order to sell more.

If clones don’t seem all that enticing, marijuana seeds may be the better option.

Marijuana Seeds

Seeds are the start of life. Marijuana seeds start from the beginning. While for a new grower this may seem very intimidating, the benefits and rewards may well be worth the extra effort.

Because marijuana is an annual plant, it’s life cycle isn’t meant to last more than a few months. Seeds start young and grow a full life-cycle. This gives seeds stronger hearty roots and a firm tap root that a clone simply can’t achieve coming from a mother plant.

A fresh, mysterious start

Marijuana seeds lack the issues like mildew and bugs that a clone might inherit from its mother. They also have additional tolerances to wind and rain that make them much more vigorous and durable.

One of the downsides to seeds is the mystery. Unless you obtain feminized seeds which are bred to always grow female, you will not know the sex of your plant until a few weeks of taking care of it. There’s also the mystery of how a seed will grow, and it can take time with multiple of the same seed to dial it in and figure out the growth patterns. However there are plenty of seed banks that keep track of their specific strains and phenotypes so you don’t have to worry as much.

Lastly, marijuana seeds can be expensive. While some seeds can cost less than a clone, others can be outlandishly priced. Normally one can expect to pay around $10 for a single seed of a basic strain.

Which will you choose?

Both seeds and clones have their pros and cons, and choice of which to grow with is a matter of preference. Marijuana seeds will give the full experience of planting to harvesting and all of the knowledge and complications that come with it. Clones give your grow a kickstart, so you don’t have to worry about germinating and all of the other early stage processes. But, you add the risk of inherited diseases and complications of dealing with a clone.

It all depends how involved you really want to be with your grow. Whether just at the beginning to make sure your clone takes off, or there from the start to watch the marijuana seed you planted turn into a beautiful marijuana plant.